Boat Show Review and Images...Team Jolly update...Media madness?

by . on 30 Sep 2015 Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for September 30, 2015

Brian Hancock, a Round the world sailor, with over 200,000 nm in his logbook, as stirred up more than a little interest around the world with his latest blog on the record breaking supermaxi Comanche, and one of her owners Kristy Hinze-Clark and her rumoured intention to sail in this year's Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race.

What sparked Hancock's ire was a piece in the Daily Telegraph (Sydney), which was largely a puff-piece.

'I am a major supporter of women in sailing but this kind of journalism is plain and simple nonsense,' Hancock wrote.

'The first paragraph reads: “Seventy years after the first female sailed in a Sydney to Hobart, former model Kristy Hinze-Clarke is ready to become the first female owner to win the line honours race with Comanche now confirmed as an unexpected starter in this year’s event.” Give me a break. In the third paragraph it states the Comanche skipper Ken Read has yet to speak to Jim Clark or his wife about whether or not Kristy will be on board and to be honest isn’t it a bit presumptuous to have a headline that presumes that Comanche will win the race. No win no history. If memory serves me in the 2014 race Wild Oats XI finished a full hour ahead of Comanche to take line honors.'

We'd been wondering when someone would have a crack at the former super model, co-owner of the world record breaking monohull.

Her injection to the top level of the sport really brings into focus some of the issues which face sailing. On one hand we want more exposure and media prominence for sailing relative to other sports. But on the other hand many do not like the personalities who can pull that publicity on the non-race days, and feel that it takes away from the hard edge of the sport.

In New Zealand sailing has a much higher profile than other countries. Over the past couple of years and maybe longer sailing has had a lot of negative publicity - largely off the back of the America's Cup, and Team New Zealand's restructuring. Whether the sport's image will ever recover remains to be seen.

We took up Hancock's and penned an alternative view, part of which is reproduced below:

As a sport, sailing is overly represented with a male following. A typical fan is male, over 40, a good level of education and income in excess of $100k - according to the demographics that we see of Sail-World and other sailing website readership.

Males represent about 50% of the population, so to pull a greater audience the sport has to have a broader appeal to a female fan base who are looking for more than to just ogle some of the male beefcake that happens to crew on the supermaxis and the like.

The sport also has to reach over into the mainstream media, if it is to lift itself out of the rut of being portrayed and perceived as the domain of rich middle-aged and sometimes elderly men.

Coming from a country where an America's Cup team is mainstream news, it is very frustrating at times to see the coverage that is received and just what does make the headlines. It will be a long time before we see another open media conference at Team New Zealand.

America's Cup lead-up race results don't seem to make it, but billionaires taking to each other with handbags at forty paces certainly do. As does a team dust-up.

Through these events the main players become house-hold names. They need no introduction at the start of a top of the hour news story - and that is part of the territory when your sport becomes mainstream news. Like it or not, your sport has to live in that space.

Back to Ms Hinze-Clark and the upcoming Sydney Hobart. As with an America's Cup shenanigans, she offers an angle that the general media can pick up and run with as a story angle - one that they use often and understand.

She plays well into the realm of fascination the general media have with the rich. The journalism of veiled envy.

She is Australian - which gives a strong local angle.

She is a former model - which again is another point of reference for the journalism of veiled envy. What would be their reaction if Kristy Hinze-Clark was not quite so good looking but was an outstanding brain-surgeon? Of course, we all know that there would be a more adulatory spin.

Those of us who are blessed with a Radio-face, know that there is little that can be done to rectify the matter. You quickly rationalise it on the basis that it is what you are like on the inside that really counts.

Ms Hinze-Clark is also type-cast - whether she likes it or not. No-one can change how they were born. In a society that worships wealth, she may also have made more money as a super-model than had she been a brain-surgeon. But that too, is a commentary on our society.

So the ingredients are all there for a good general media story, and it is not surprising that Ms Hinze-Clark made the front-page news in the Sydney papers.

Fast rewind nine months to the last Rolex Sydney Hobart race and the question of whether Kristy would be on the crew for the classic was a story line that featured strongly. Most pundits were pretty sure that she would not sail. Maybe this time maybe there is not the same family pressure. So it is no real surprise that the same question has returned.

As we all know it is part of the great Australian dream to sail in the Sydney Hobart and win in your own boat (and ideally one you have also designed and built). So one can understand Kristy Hinze-Clark's motivation for wanting to do the race, or at least think and talk about it.

Hell, there is even a trophy for the first female skipper to complete the race.

Feeling nervous, Kenny?

You can see the full stories from both of us in this edition.

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Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor

sailworldnzl@gmail.com

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